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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  10. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.
  19. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. clip — to cut
  3. band — a ring
  4. can — a tin
  5. clip — for paper
  6. ball — a great time
  7. row — a line
  8. ball — a dance
  9. stand — for spectators
  10. can — to be able to
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. clip — a video
  14. spring — the season
  15. spring — a coil
  16. net — for catching
  17. net — after costs
  18. stand — to bear
  19. stand — on your feet
  20. net — in sport
  21. band — a music group
  22. can — a tin
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. row — to paddle

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com